World Wide Knitting In Public Day

In 2005, someone named Danielle Landes started what has become a worldwide movement: Knitting in Public Day. Actually, the organization that tries to track Knitting in Public Day events has decreed that you and your friends have a whole week within which you can organize a Knitting in Public Day. All the Central Jersey events I know about fall on either June 11 or 12.

Arlene sent out this photo of the Gates Avenue Knitters from WWKIP Day 2009.

On June 11, the Gates Avenue Knitters, a group that meets in Long Hill Township Library on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, will have their WWKIP Day from 1 to 3 p.m. in the plaza in front of 917 Valley Road in Gillette (at the Long Hill Township municipal complex). Arlene Kaplan, the leader of the group, says to bring a chair, water, and your current project. If you can attach a shade umbrella to your chair, I’d do that, too. If it’s too hot or too wet, Arlene says they’ll be in the breezeway, so this is rain or shine. This is a really nice group of women (I didn’t see any men the night I attended a year and a half ago, but maybe there are some male members now, too).

Another library will be hosting a WWKIP Day on June 11: Princeton. According to someone on the Princeton Library e-mail list, the event lasts from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Last year, the staff from Pins & Needles Yarn Store, a few blocks away, taught classes. I don’t know if they’ll be involved this year or not. But I do know that if the sun is shining, the knitters and crocheters will be doing their projects on the plaza. If it rains, they’ll be inside in the community room. Check with the library for other details.

Up in Madison, the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts will celebrate Knitting in Public Day all day June 11 by offering free admission to anyone who shows up with their knitting or a receipt from The Blue Purl yarn shop, which is a couple of blocks away. Both are on Main Street. The museum is at 9 Main St., right near where Main St. and Park St. form a Y intersection. Knitters are invited to sit and knit in the museum as well as to explore the exhibits.

And on June 12, the Somerset Patriots are holding their annual Stitch & Pitch game at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. Game starts at 1:35. Follow the link to the Patriots website to get tickets. Rumor has it that the Patriots got a NJ yarn company interested in helping them promote the event. I hope that means we get samples of something! I think Down Cellar has bought a block of tickets for their regular customers who want to sit together (the tickets are not gifts; you can buy one, unless they are sold out).

If you know of other WWKIP events in June, let us know!

About Pam MacKenzie

Pam MacKenzie grew up in a real estate family. Her parents were real estate brokers and office managers, and she herself was a licensed agent in the 1970s. But early on, Pam discovered she'd much rather write about the industry than sell. Now in her eighth year as the real estate editor at the Courier News, Pam believes she has the best job at the paper. In this blog, she's on a mission to empower readers to give them a strong understanding of anything and everything that can impact their ability to own a home. And she believes passionately that when you understand the real estate industry in New Jersey, you understand so much more: the education system, economic and racial bias, the way politics works or doesn't work and ecology, to name a few. She invites everybody to leave lots of comments, even when they disagree with her.

About this Blog

Pam explores local knitting groups and yarn shops, critiques patterns and shares her wisdom on techniques for improving your craft.

About the author

Pam MacKenzie
Our real estate editor, Pam MacKenzie, expresses her creative side in this blog about knitting. Pam learned to knit at age 6, when her friend’s mother made Pam’s doll a dress, and Pam wanted to make more. Her mother wanted her to learn how to sew in high school, but she was afraid of the sewing machines, cutting fabric the wrong way, and the potential that sewing would have for bringing down her grade-point average. Every year, she managed to find a course conflict to avoid sewing classes. But the day after high school graduation, she took her graduation money to a fabric store, bought a kit to make a sweater, taught herself to read patterns and never looked back. These days, she knits a prayer shawl every month, along with sweaters, tote bags, gift bags and other goodies. She also designs many of her projects. Read More About PamE-mail Pam